Method for Providing Donations to Third Parties During a Financial Transaction and Tracking the Details of the Financial Transactions For Donation Contributors and Recipients

ABSTRACT

A method for embedding a socially conscious donation, contribution, payment into a transaction at the point of sale or purchase using any payment platform that accepts, debit, credit, cash, financing, donations, contributions, financial service transactions, etc. and facilitates, separates, and keeps track of the process and the transaction, including the giveback. The system and method also handles contributions to any beneficiary which could be the person making the purchase or sale or barter. The system and method utilizes a human key to make and take requests, record payments, take and certify payments between a user or plurality of users, a merchant/business, and a charity of designated beneficiary. Whereby a set amount by the parties, user, purchaser, seller, and beneficiary can be used for a donation, contribution, or payment to a beneficiary determined at the point of sale, purchase, or barter.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from and is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/459,353, entitled “Method and mechanism for protection, sharing, storage, accessing, authentication, certification, attachment and tracking anything in an electronic network”, filed on Jun. 29, 2009, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of data processing systems. More specifically the present invention relates to providing financial donations to third parties and tracking the financial details of the transactions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In an effort to support communities and garner positive public opinion, many companies are offering consumer the ability to donate money during a point of sale transaction. In an effort to increase donations, many charities are partnering with companies offering point of sale donations. From home supplies to fast food, consumers, when paying with a credit/debit card have the ability to donate some amount of money, typically a dollar, to a charity through their purchase of product or services with a company. Additionally, online transaction companies also enable Charities to establish accounts and incorporate electronic donation buttons that allow website users to visit their website or third party websites and donate money directly to the charity via the transaction system. Finally, credit card companies allow users to donate their accumulated reward points and donate them to a charity of choice where the reward points are converted into a monetary amount for donation to the charity.

Unfortunately, many consumers dislike constantly being asked to donate to a charity while making purchases and many consumers feel a disconnect between the company requesting the donation and the charity in which they support. Many of the larger corporations provide these transaction donation services in support of larger, national, or multi-national charities.

What is missing is a method and process for creating local campaigns and presenting consumers with a less invasive means for purchasing products or supporting retailers and other merchants who are working directly, at the local level, to support charities or projects where the customer is not making a separate donation, but is purchasing a service or product where part of the price is specifically set aside for supporting a specific charity or event.

Additionally, many consumers dislike not being able to track or keep track of the success of a project or charity to which they have donated. What is need is a system that provides for making a donation during a financial transaction where the details of the transaction are tracked and can be reviewed.

The present invention teaches a method for providing donations to third parties during a financial transaction and tracking the details of the financial transactions for donation, contributors, and recipients.

DEFINITIONS

A “human key” is a software identification file that enables a user to verify themselves to another user or a computer system. The software file of the human key enables a user to be verified and/or authenticated in a transaction and also provides tracking of the financial transaction by associating the transaction to one or more human keys which identify and authenticate a user in the system.

A “QR Code”, abbreviated from and also know as “Quick Response Code”, is defined as a type of matrix barcode, or two-dimensional code, used for commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing, and in-store product labeling.

A “software application” is a program or group of programs designed for end users. Application software can be divided into two general classes: systems software and applications software. Systems software consists of low-level programs that interact with the computer at a very basic level. This includes operating systems, compilers, and utilities for managing computer resources. In contrast, applications software (also called end-user programs) includes database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets. Figuratively speaking, applications software sits on top of systems software because it is unable to run without the operating system and system utilities.

A “software module” is a file that contains instructions. “Module” implies a single executable file that is only a part of the application, such as a DLL. When referring to an entire program, the terms “application” and “software program” are typically used.

A “software application module” is a program or group of programs designed for end users that contains one or more files that contains instructions to be executed by a computer or other equivalent device.

A “website”, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web.

A “web page”, also written as webpage is a document, typically written in plain text interspersed with formatting instructions of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML, XHTML). A web page may incorporate elements from other websites with suitable markup anchors.

Web pages are accessed and transported with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which may optionally employ encryption (HTTP Secure, HTTPS) to provide security and privacy for the user of the web page content. The user's application, often a web browser displayed on a computer, renders the page content according to its HTML markup instructions onto a display terminal. The pages of a website can usually be accessed from a simple Uniform Resource Locator (URL) called the homepage. The URLs of the pages organize them into a hierarchy, although hyperlinking between them conveys the reader's perceived site structure and guides the reader's navigation of the site.

A “mobile device” is a generic term used to refer to a variety of devices that allow people to access data and information from where ever they are. This includes cell phones and other portable devices such as, but not limited to, PDAs, Pads, smartphones, and laptop computers.

“NFC” is an acronym for “Near Field Communication” which allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. NFC is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States. Many smartphones currently on the market already contain embedded NFC chips that can send encrypted data a short distance (“near field”) to a reader located, for instance, next to a retail cash register. Shoppers who have their credit card information stored in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on the reader, rather than using the actual credit card.

“Social network sites” are web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site. While we use the terms “social network”, “social network pages”, and “social network site” to describe this phenomenon, the term “social networking sites” also appears in public discourse, and the variation of terms are often used interchangeably.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention teaches embedding a socially conscious donation, contribution, payment into a transaction at the point of sale or purchase using any payment platform that accepts, debit, credit, cash, financing, donations, contributions, financial service transactions, etc. and facilitates, separates, and keeps track of the process and the transaction, including the giveback. The system and method also handles contributions to any beneficiary with could be the person making the purchase or sale or barter. The system and method utilizes a human key to make and take requests, record payments, take and certify payments between a user or plurality of users, a merchant/business, and a charity or designated beneficiary. A set amount of the transaction can be set aside by the parties, user, purchaser, seller, and beneficiary to be used for a donation, contribution, or payment to a beneficiary at the point of sale, purchase, or barter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification exemplify the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain and illustrate principles of the inventive technique. Specifically:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the payment module and user connectivity of the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the computerized process takes place at the time of the payment and or transaction;

FIG. 3 is a simulated smart phone application which illustrates the method as practiced on a machine;

FIG. 4 is a simulated website form which illustrates the method as practiced on a machine;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the present invention for a transaction;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the interaction between consumers, charities, and business with the payment module connected to the human key of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the method as applied to a 501c3 charity;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the method of the payment delivery and management transaction module of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a series of simulated websites showing the use of the QR codes and the payment module connected to the human key.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing(s), in which identical functional elements are designated with like numerals. The aforementioned accompanying drawings show by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments and implementations consistent with principles of the present invention. These implementations are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be understood that other implementations may be utilized and that structural changes and/or substitutions of various elements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be construed in a limited sense. Additionally, the various embodiments of the invention as described may be implemented in the form of a software running on a general purpose computer, in the form of a specialized hardware, or combination of software and hardware.

The method of the present invention is embodied by a software program containing executable instruction of the method and/or process claimed by the present invention. The software program embodying the present invention is executable on a particular machine or apparatus. “Particular machine” or “apparatus” is defined as a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal data assistance (PDA), IPAD, tablets, table computers, IPHONE, mobile phone, smart phone, or any other equivalent electronic device which is capable of running a set of executable instructions embodied by software and providing a display of the result of those instructions. These electronic devices used to define a particular machine or apparatus function tie the method of the present invention to a particular machine or apparatus. The present invention is a method and payment process that uses a computer or mobile device to make or request, and to take or fulfill requests, of socially conscious donations for connecting users, businesses and charities together.

The present is directed to the giving of a contribution, donation, or payment to a third party beneficiary at the point of purchase, sale, or barter using a human key to allow the purchases and or seller to designate where a portion of the transaction goes (third party beneficiary). The “human key” is a software identification file that enables a user to verify themselves to another user or a computer system. The software file of the human key enables a user to be verified and/or authenticated in a transaction and also provides tracking of the financial transaction by associating the transaction to one or more human keys which identify and authenticate a user in the system.

The purpose of the present invention is to embed the giving or directing of a piece of the transaction to a designated beneficiary. For example, this method could be used for a socially conscious purpose, a sole entity, charity, campaign, or even into the purchasers account. In essence, if a purchase is being made, the discount, rebate, or piece of the transaction that the seller is willing to contribute or give could go back to the purchasers designated account or into a special account such as a college education fund, retirement account, Christmas account, family trip, or to make payment for a mortgage, loan, auto, installment, or anything that has been financed that requires a payment. The money can also be able to go into an investment, group investment, loan, or group loan.

Now referring to FIG. 1, a computer system with a payment module connected to a human key 101 would keep track of the process where a user registers their preferences for where they want the money to go 102, such as their local community, charity, campaign, themselves, or whoever the beneficiary is and include loans, investments, gifts, and or payments, contributions, and donations. A charity registers with the computer system and chooses how they want to pay businesses and how they want to accept payments 103. Businesses register with the computer system and choose how they want to accept payments, and how they want to pay other businesses 104.

The computerized process takes place at the time of the payment and or transaction, although transactions can occur online or offline. The user or consumer making the payment would authorize the transaction on a computer screen, terminal, payment platform, credit/debit module, any payment process connected to a networked computer terminal, display screen or electronic payment platform system so the system is recording the transaction. Now referring to FIG. 2, the system records the transaction 200 by tracking the transaction 201, registering the transaction 202, including the parties invested 203, the amount involved 204, and separating the contribution, gift, donation, payment, etc. 205 from the goods or services purchased amount 206 at the time of the transaction with a date, time, and place receipt 207 generated to all parties, which typically includes the user/customer 208, seller/business 209, and charity/beneficiary 210 involved in the transaction 200.

The computer system keeps track of and aggregate all transaction information including what may be tax deductible 211 in the transaction to the customer/buyer 208, seller/business 209, and charity/beneficiary 210. The system will hold the information and supply receipts to all parties involved. The system will also generate supporting tax documentation for all parties.

These contributions/deductions embedded into transactions online and offline at points of purchase, sales, and barters should provide for contributions, donations, and payments toward loans, payments toward equity, payments toward credit or debit cards, credits towards making more purchases (rewards programs), savings accounts, financial service transactions or go into an investment pool/account that could be leveraged to make loans, adding additional interest to the portfolio and or equity to the portfolio.

For example, if a school in a local community needs a new building, and enough people in a community designate their contribution to go to that school and that project, then when $100,000 or one million come in, they would use the funds to borrow ten times that amount from a bank and not need to do a bond issue. This is a new financing technique created and supported by the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the system embodying the method would separate the money to be donated, contributed, loaned, etc at the time of the transaction so the merchant/business would not be burdened with the paperwork and fulfillment of the transaction. The system aggregates this information and provides receipts to all parties for the transaction. The system would allow for a group or plurality of people to do this together or as individuals. The system would assign a QR code to the deal and the transactions. This QR code might be the receipt. The system would use the human key for identification and security of the transaction for recording, tracking, authenticating, and certifying the transaction. The system would connect users, businesses, and charities together including those in need with those who can give.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a simulated smart phone application is shown for enabling a user to start a campaign. The smart phone display 301 provides input means where a user can elected to list donate by first selecting how they want to pay 302, selecting what they want to do from a drop down list 303, selecting when they would like it to occur from a drop down calendar 304, entering their zip code 305, selecting when they will make a decision from a drop down calendar 306, selecting who they want to donate to from a drop down list of campaigns, charities, or by entering a specific user 307. A user can also enter an image 308, browse campaigns, charities, and users 309, or submit their donation 310.

The system would incorporate search, including local zip code search to help benefit local communities. The search would encompass all users that need money with the merchants and business users offering deals or are willing to give a piece of the transaction to a designated beneficiary. So, if someone wants to buy something, they can browse and sort by what they want and those merchants who are offering to give something back.

In another embodiment, the present invention is incorporated into auctions.

In yet another embodiment, the machines enabling the execution of the method of the present invention and running the software which embodies it are computers, smart phones, tablets, and other smart mobile devices or mobile computing devices.

Now referring to FIG. 4, the system allows users, using a form 400 to request that a merchant, vendor, or user participate, such as sign up to offer deals by providing a proposal preview 406, a description of the service or prices 407, and information on how to pay 408, who the proposal if from 409, and what is needed 410. The system then sends out requests to individuals and merchants to participate using the form 400. The system sends requests to users to designate their preferences where they want the money to go 401, that date by when it is needed 402, the location 403, that date on which they will make a decision 404, and an image option 405.

The system allows users to request a sponsor, request a need, request a charity, request an advertiser and the system turns these requests into a campaign, advertisement, or deal to be advertised or promoted, or publicized within or outside the system and as disclosed in the parent patent, these ads, campaigns, and deals can be posted on other people's websites, inside or outside the network by using the QR code to put it on someone else's site in an affiliate marketing manner by using link code 903 embedded in a website 901 for tracking payments, view, and clicks or QR codes barcodes, NFS, or RFID 904 for tacking of payment transactions in a website 902 as shown in FIG. 9

Now referring to FIG. 5, the system allows users to send requests 501 via the form 400 that asks another user, merchant, or business for their best price, service, and convenience terms. The system records, transmits, and stores that information 502. The system can also ask them if they give back and what the giveback is 503. The system sends out requests to a plurality of vendors that may want to respond 504 and the system tracks all responses 505. The system allows users to lock in the best offer, buy, sell, or barter 506 and allows users to request financing terms from a plurality of vendors that may be interested in the transaction including the give back terms and deals 507. The system stores the givebacks and credits until it accumulates to a designated amount 508, then transfers it to the beneficiary which as user has chosen 509. Buyers and sellers are matched by what the seller is willing to contribute to the transaction. In essence, the business is subsidizing the discount, give back, donation, or contribution to the beneficiary.

Now referring to FIG. 6, one example of the method is shown for a situation where during a financial transaction, the system automatically takes a small amount of currency for purchases and stores them for a period of time until it accumulates to a given amount, and then it releases the accumulated amount for purchases 600. A consumer chooses to have the payment module connected to the human key 602 deduct small payments from their bank account for payment to their campaign so that when their campaign gets the desired amount to buy something it is automatically purchases 601. A charity chooses to have the payment module connected to the human key 602 track the receipt of small donations payments and when the charity gets the desired campaign amount they contact the campaign and a deduction receipt is automatically emailed and provided to the user so they can get the deduction 601. A business uses the payment module connected to the human key 602 to establish campaigns for product and service sales with payments until fulfilled, then a user gets the product and service delivered or rendered 604.

Now referring to FIG. 7, the system identifies legitimate 501c3 charities 705 for the purpose of assisting in deductible donations by the user 706 or business 707. The system server 701 stores 501c3 information in a database 702. A payment and delivery payment module tracks all transactions and payments made in the system 703. A payment module connected to the human key 704 delivers information to the system users, consumers, charities, and businesses, to authenticate the users in the system.

The payment delivery and transaction module 800 stores credit card 801, debit card 802, Near Field Communication 803, and check or cash 804 information that is authorized by the human key for a debit transaction 805. The system processes the debit transaction 806, post the debit to an account 807, calculates the fees that go to the administration and beneficiary 808, and then confirm that the funds are available 809. If the funds are not available, the transaction is cancelled 810. If the funds are available, the funds are transferred 811, and the transaction is recorded and sent to the beneficiary 812 and administrator 813. The administrator 813 is the manager of the website, owner of the business entity, or representative of the owners of the business entity. “Admin” is a nickname for the manager, owner, or authorized representative of the business entity, in this case it would be the administrator bank account.

Moreover, other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Various aspects and/or components of the described embodiments may be used individually or in any combination in the computerized content filtering system. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the point and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.

As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

1. A method for providing donations to third parties during a financial transaction and tracking the details of the financial transactions for donation contributors and recipients, executable by a machine and rendered on the display of the machine, comprising the steps of: registering one or more users; authenticating a user; electing, by the user, how they want to pay a business and where they want their payment to go; registering a business; electing, by the business, how they want to receive payments; registering a beneficiary; setting up a beneficiary account; electing, by the beneficiary, how the beneficiary wants to accept contributions; creating one or more campaigns for receipt of contributions; executing a financial transaction; authorizing the transaction on a machine display by the user; providing a payment module; recording the financial transaction; tracking the transaction; registering the transaction; recording the parties invested; recording the amount involved; separating the contribution from the goods or services purchased amount at the time of the transaction recording the date and time, of the transaction; generating a receipt; sending a receipt to each party involved in the transaction; distributing the purchased amount to the seller; and distributing then contribution amount to the beneficiary or adding the contribution amount to a beneficiary account.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of; creating a human key that enables a user to verify themselves to another user or the machine; and assigning a user a human key for future authentication.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein, the money is donated by a user to their local community, charity, campaign, themselves, or a third party beneficiary
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein, the third party beneficiary includes loans, investments, gifts, payments, contributions, and donations.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein, the receipt includes the names of all parties to the transaction and the beneficiary involved in the transaction.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein, the payment module tracks and aggregates all transaction information; determines what part of the transaction is tax deductible; stores all tax related information; supplies receipts to all parties involved in the transaction; and generate supporting tax documentation for all parties.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein, the seller designates which third party beneficiary shares a portion of the transaction and how much of the transaction will be shared.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein, the software file of the human key enables a user to be verified and authenticated in a transaction and also provides tracking of the financial transaction by associating the transaction to one or more human keys which identify and authenticate a user in the system.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein, the discount, rebate, or piece of the transaction that the seller is willing to contribute or give could go back to the purchasers designated account.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein, the designated account is either an investment, college education fund, retirement account, savings account, or to make payment for a loan or anything that has been financed that requires a payment or installment.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein, the contributions are collected and not dispersed; and the funds accumulated through the contributions are used as leverage or collateral on a loan.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein, the accumulated contributions in a beneficiary account are released to the beneficiary after a set amount is obtained.
 13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of assigning a QR code to the campaign and the transactions.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein the human key is used for identification and security of the transaction for recording, tracking, authenticating, and certifying the transaction.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of: providing a form allowing users to request that a user participate in a campaign; providing a proposal preview; providing a description of the service or prices; providing information on how to pay; stating who the proposal is from and what is needed; sending out requests to users to participate using the form; sending requests to users to designate their preferences where they want the money to go the date by when it is needed, the location, the date on which they will make a decision, and an image option.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of: transforming requests into a campaign, advertisement, or deal to be advertised or promoted, or publicized within or outside the system; posting the campaign, advertisement, or deal on other people's websites; and using the QR code to post the campaign, advertisement, or deal on other people's websites by using link code, QR barcodes, NFC or RFID embedded in a website for tracking payments, view, and clicks.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of: sending requests via the form that asks another user for their best price, service, and convenience terms; recording, transmitting, and storing the best price, service, and convenience terms; asking a user if they give back and the giveback terms; sending out requests to a plurality of users that may want to respond; tracking all responses; and allowing users to lock in the best price, service, and convenience terms.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of: requesting financing terms from a plurality of users that may be interested in the transaction based on the give back terms; matching buyers and sellers by what the seller is willing to contribute to the transaction; storing the givebacks and credits until it accumulates to a designated amount; and transferring the accumulated giveback to the beneficiary which a user has chosen.
 19. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: establishing a self-supported campaign by a user; automatically taking a small amount of currency during a financial transaction for purchases; storing the accumulated currency for a period of time until it accumulates to a given amount; and automatically making a pre-defined purchase.
 20. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: establishing a campaign by a user; automatically taking a small amount of currency during a financial transaction for donation to the campaign; storing the accumulated currency until a predetermined amount is reached; contacting the campaign when the predetermined amount is reached; sending the accumulated currency to the campaign beneficiary; generating a deduction receipt; and delivering the deduction receipt to the user for tax deduction purposes.
 21. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: establishing a self-supported campaign for product and service sales with payments until a payment goal is reached by a user; automatically taking a small amount of currency during a financial transaction for purchases; using the accumulated currency to make payments until the payment goal is reached; and receiving the product or service when the payment goal is reached.
 22. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: identifying tax deductible charities for the purpose of assisting in deductible donations by the user or business; maintaining a database of identified tax deductible charities; and tracking all transactions and payments made in the system to identified tax deductible charities. 